Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1887-12-10
THE PEANUTS USES.

1ates.
The peanut is thorough democrat
H, is not fair to look upon, not hait so
pretlv as his much-abused BROTHER the
old and evcr-bloOming chestnut yet ne
is equally al home in the Fifth avenue
palace as he is in the tenement on the
Bend, and is equally loved and respect
ed in both. although he is often sugar
ed in the more fashionable quartcr'
No one for a moment would suspect
it. but really there's millions III H.
Not only does the peanut afford com
Portable living for thousands OF gentle
men who quit sunny Italy for ltaly
GOOD. to bloom out rs merchants at the
street corners of Gotham, but It aids III
giving employment to other thousands
on three contincnts-EurOpe, Africa
and America.
From virginia southwark TO the sur
of Mexico it grows in great abundance
and mill ons OF bushels are dug up an-
nuaIly to provide STRENGTH for people
who attend the circus and are compeIl-
ell to listen to the ancient jokes OF the
clown. When Jack Frost first ma kes
himself acquainted with the beautiful
autumn then the peanut farmer Is III
his glory. He hies himself at early
dawn to the field armed with pronged
hoe and DIGS up the modest peanut.
For the peanut is modest and hides from
the vulgar gnze. Indeed, it IS pecui-
iar.ty of this nut to push its pods into
isntead of out of the ground. Hence II
requires digging to obtain the crop.
The farmer with his pronged hoe pulls
out the vine with the peanuts attached
and leaves them on the ground for two
or three days to dry. Then he re-
moves them TO shed, where they
ou etly rest for two weeks. The nuts
are then picked from the vine and are
:eady for the tanning mill.
One hundred bushels to the acre is
fair est mate, and good peanuts are
worth 81 busheI. IF a manor a
woman, for that matter-has 10O-acre
farm he can have great quantity of
peanuts, which when exchanged for
collars, even trade dollars, will net
him a handsome return for his outlay
and labor.
Virginia, the ''mother of presidents,
may be also called the mother of Amer
lean peanuts. That state alone furnish
a
olinas send their quota, aud so does
Tennessee, though the peanuts from
the latter state are not rs white rs
those from the other southern states,
and hence not so high priced.
The nuts are sent TO the peanut fac
tory, as callow youths are sent to col
lege, to be- busted, coming out rs
VIII te as snow-not Broadway snow,
but Just common everyday snow. The
farmers used to do the busting and
polishing at home, but now they
lind it cheaper to send the nuts to the
peanut factory"
At Norfork. Va. there are nine of,
these factories, where a million bushels
often more-Of the nuts are cleaned.
| polished, and sorted by cOlored women.
Of course. all the peanuts are not
J large and handsome. Those with only
one kernel are placed in the shelter,
which gu ckly removes the lover
coat" and the lonely peanut slips
through to find lots of company in the
| separator below which SORTS them into
three sizes: extra large" mo 1" and
No 2" Then the nuts are packed up.
| tn no nf
confectioner, the man who gives his
customers talfy,
"a better fate awaits the big healthy
peanut, the ar.stOcrat, so to speak. 1t
comes out of the tanning mill white
and pretty as picture" with the
shell unbroken. These are sent north
also and become the stock in trade OF
the street vender and the "cOrneI
Speculation" They buy the peanuts fol
I 81 cents pound. The roasting. when
i they do. not do it themselves costs
| them cent pound. The loss in the
process Of roasting is 10 per cent. and
the CHEEKY peanut comes up smiling in
the last round ut the cost of 81 Al a bu
shell. The vender sells them at 10 cents
quart. But. his quart is just u little
contracted, and he always manages t.
have forty Of them to the bushel il
defiance OF all the rules OF measure
ment Thus the nnts cost him 81. As ;
bushel and he receives 81 a bushel,
clear profit of S2.55.
But let no one think that this finishes
the work of the modest peanut, 1t
mission has a much wider scope. No
only does it figure on the street stand
but in another foIm it often appears
on the table of even the best regulated
families as "olive OIL" But this de
ccitful and wicked peanut is not o
native growth. 1t Is product Q
foreign lands.
The peanut yields from As TO 80 pc
cent of an oil almost colorless an,
nearly equal to olive oil in taste an,
quality. This oil is obtained I'M vsriou
ways, but the best is furnished by col
compression. and France is responsible
In the maine for il.
Marseiles does an enormous trad
. in olive oil. but all that is thus labele
is not olive oil b. any means. La:
year ten million bushels of peanut
went into the city in their origins
shape and came out in neat bottles a
solve" oil or .'huile d. olive"
This is not all. mo pent-up Utica
confines the scope of the peanut. Til
oil that is extracted is also used in max
ing toilet soaps. 1t possesses tn
quality of render no the skin soft an